Chronicling vs MARGIN.
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chronicling
This app provides a flexible way to monitor habits, health, mood, and daily activities. It offers customizable tracking options, quick logging methods, and insightful data visualization to help users identify patterns and maintain consistency. Secure syncing and data export are also available.
- All-in-one habit and health tracking
- Fully customizable categories
- Fast and effortless logging
- Smart reminders for goals
- Detailed data logging (notes, numbers)
- Visual insights and trends
- Private and secure iCloud sync
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Log habits, chores, symptoms or anything else in life you want to keep an eye on. Chronicling shows you how often things happen, when they tend to happen and how long it's been since the last time. Some things happen every day, like coffee, a walk or your medication. Others come and go: changing the bed sheets, a headache, calling home. Chronicling handles both, so everything you want to keep track of lives in one place. LOG IT IN A TAP - Add events from widgets, Control Center, the Lock Screen, Siri and Shortcuts - Record a number or a note too, such as cups, miles, pages or how you felt - Automate logging with Shortcuts, from workouts to arriving home SEE HOW OFTEN, AND WHEN - Time since last logged, average gap and longest gap for every category - Heatmaps, charts and trends over weeks, months and years - Spot patterns by weekday and time of day - An annual Wrapped to look back at your year GENTLE REMINDERS - Time Since Last Event: get a nudge when it's been too long since you last logged something, from a few hours to a few months - Daily Goal: pick a time of day, and you'll only be notified if you haven't hit that day's goal - Rolling Goal: aim for a number over the last few days or weeks, with a daily check that only notifies you if you're falling short YOUR CATEGORIES, YOUR WAY - Create your own categories with emoji or symbols and your own colors - Choose the period each category's stats cover - Organize them into groups and filter by Focus ON ALL YOUR DEVICES - iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro - Private iCloud sync between your devices - Export to CSV or a single-file backup at any time - your data is yours "If you're looking for a flexible approach to tracking events in your life and want to try an app with an excellent, modern design that supports the latest iOS and iPadOS technologies, be sure to give Chronicling a try." - MacStories If you have questions, suggestions or any other feedback, please contact me at support@chroniclingapp.com. Subscriptions to Chronicling Premium will automatically renew unless canceled within 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial will be forfeited if you purchase a subscription. For more information, see https://chroniclingapp.com/terms-of-use/ and https://chroniclingapp.com/privacy-policy/.
MARGIN.
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A buy-once note app for the subscription-fatigued. MARGIN. is a local-first, Markdown-native note-taking app. Your data stays on your device — no servers, no accounts, fully offline. FEATURES • Markdown native — saves as plain .md files • Bidirectional links [[]] — connect your notes • Full-text search — powered by FTS5 • Graph view — visualize knowledge connections • Calendar — browse notes by date • Tags # — flexible organization • Fully offline — works without internet WHY MARGIN. • No AI — a refuge from AI fatigue • No plugins — zero config, just works • No subscription — buy once, own forever • No account — complete privacy • Price Freeze Guarantee — no more price hikes YOUR DATA, YOUR RULES All notes saved as standard .md files. Export anytime. No lock-in.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MARGIN. at none against Chronicling's 3. MARGIN. also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.4). Chronicling's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Chronicling sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. MARGIN. asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Chronicling | MARGIN. |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (185 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 79.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 185 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | — |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 18.4 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 95 MB | 85 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Rebecca Owen | Ryutaro Nakano |
In-app purchases
Chronicling
- Premium Monthly14 Days trial$0.991 Month
- Premium Annual14 Days trial$9.991 Year
- Premium Lifetime$39.99
MARGIN.
No in-app purchases








